Boat captain abandons novice US divers in middle of the ocean in Thailand

[Alwyn]

You are not dealing with "the sharpest knives in the draw", intelligence, education all leave alot to be desired in many countries. People just blindly expect things to be the same wherever they go, they are not, and they dont stop to think about where they are and who they are actually dealing with.If they know what they are doing, if they are trained, if they have experience? Or is it just some local driven purely by money and has no clue as to the implications of his actions and unknowingly put lives in danger.

wow.. congratulations are in order! You've made what has to be the biggest "generalization" ever!! You just made a generalzitation about the whole World - well done!! "people just blindly expect things to be the same (except you of course, you're far too smart) wherever they go" etc.. and you know this how? You've questioned "the people"? because I don't remember you asking me about it.. If you read the full article you will see the couple researched reviews about the dive company for booking, what else should they have done, o wise one?

[rogerdee123]

The boat driver/captain must have been paid in advance.

Edited November 16, 2013 by rogerdee123

[JoeThePoster]

He's a prime candidate to fill the recent vacancy at Costa.

[RKASA]

"They later found out, their boat captain had engine trouble and chose to leave them all in the water while he went back to shore."

No I don't think so maybe some kind of a pay issue at the heart of it all.

So the radio and cell phones don't work ether he had to just leave them, no anchor aboard?

Maybe these operators need to be a bit more certified (other then crazy) before they can hire out.

[jacko45k]

"nearby cliffs which were too steep to climb."

So they were hardly "in the middle of the ocean" then!

Hardly, but that goes without saying as the nearest 'ocean' (Indian?) is some distance from Thailand.

Incredible what can happen here...boat captain, I wonder what qualifications and certification he had.

I am thinking he was paid in advance and the money was burning a hole in his pocket as he sobered up.

Edited November 16, 2013 by jacko45k

[noitom]

Thailand - You pays your money, You takes your chances.

"Engine trouble" however, he could still get home !! Sounds rather strange but indicates that he put his own safety and perhaps that of his boat before the welfare of his customers. When put like this sounds typically Thai. 30 or 45 minutes in the water is not that arduous but could be rather disconcerting to novice divers and there is also no mention if it was the captains intention to return. Dangerous and professionally incompetent as this action was I think that the story has been blown out of perspective with regard to the degree of danger that these divers were in. Furthermore that were still in the care of the instructors for what that may be worth.

In more than 100 open water dives in Thailand , I must have experienced at least 10 to 15 times that we were left in the water on the surface for 30 or 45 minutes mainly on drift dives , however have never had an incident when the boat simply disappeared.

Everyone in the US and UK should just go to the Bahamas for diving.

[oxo1947]

Unfortunately these things happen, there have been movies made about it, but it sounds like in this case the blame is easy.

Where did this happen?

Oh no steveni.....this one will be real difficult to work out--you go for a dive --come up and the boats gone.......Calling Sherlock.......................calling Sherlock Holmes please come to the phone....

[stevenl]

Unfortunately these things happen, there have been movies made about it, but it sounds like in this case the blame is easy.

Where did this happen?

Oh no steveni.....this one will be real difficult to work out--you go for a dive --come up and the boats gone.......Calling Sherlock.......................calling Sherlock Holmes please come to the phone....

????

[Gone]

Not trying to be cynical but I thought there were no sharks in Thai waters? Someone please tell me I'm wrong? Im not a diver but just thought that.

[PoorSucker]

Not trying to be cynical but I thought there were no sharks in Thai waters? Someone please tell me I'm wrong? Im not a diver but just thought that.

Just go to the local fish market and you will see them.

[ramrod711]

TAT announces, Thousands more divers coming to Thailand, soon to be SCUBA hub.

[butterisbetter]

"only in Thailand"

Really?

Maybe you should amend that to only in Thailand, the USA, and Australia. And at least these people survived. The ones in Australia weren't so lucky.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2045393/2-scuba-divers-left-die-Miami-Beach-charter-boat-Key-Biscayne.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_and_Eileen_Lonergan

[BudRight]

I can't believe people are defending this. Just because it happened somewhere else once does not excuse this in any way.

[GAZZPA]

You are not dealing with "the sharpest knives in the draw", intelligence, education all leave alot to be desired in many countries. People just blindly expect things to be the same wherever they go, they are not, and they dont stop to think about where they are and who they are actually dealing with.If they know what they are doing, if they are trained, if they have experience? Or is it just some local driven purely by money and has no clue as to the implications of his actions and unknowingly put lives in danger.

wow.. congratulations are in order! You've made what has to be the biggest "generalization" ever!! You just made a generalzitation about the whole World - well done!! "people just blindly expect things to be the same (except you of course, you're far too smart) wherever they go" etc.. and you know this how? You've questioned "the people"? because I don't remember you asking me about it.. If you read the full article you will see the couple researched reviews about the dive company for booking, what else should they have done, o wise one?

Agree with you Alwyn. No on expects every country to be the same and everybody knows that you have to try and be wary of differences and customs. But what's that got to do with this guys behavior? We are not talking about complaining about your food in a restaurant, he abandoned the divers in the sea for goodness sake. As Alwyn said, they researched the dive company. Unless you have a crystal ball this is all you can do.

Sharpest knives in the draw or not this "captain" will know what he did was wrong, so don't point the finger at the 6 divers and suggest they were naive. The captain should be up for criminal charges, absolutely no doubt and to be honest, if it were me and I ever saw him again I would have to have to seriously restrain myself from breaking his bloody jaw.

So, get real. No excuses, it was wrong, I guess you have been living here too long which is why your post is so skewed the wrong way.

[cheshiremusicman]

"nearby cliffs which were too steep to climb."

So they were hardly "in the middle of the ocean" then!

What stupid comments!

Have you ever tried to climb even a modestly rocky area with a full set of diving gear on? I don't think so, otherwise you wouldn't have made this stupid comment. Steep cliffs and sea swell don't go together too well I can tell you from past experience.

If you read the story, they say that they were abandoned in about a five foot swell and as an ex diver I can tell you that it can be extremely difficult to spot divers in the water in those kind of conditions from small boats. You don't have to be "in the middle of the ocean" to have some turd ruin your life. One of the biggest problems in this kind of scenario, is that divers can get seperated by currents and then you've really got a problem and add to this that the sun was setting; it all adds up to a very nasty scenario where people could easily have lost their lives. It was extremely lucky that one of the divers had some form of inflatable device (it didn't say what in the article) that was most fortunately seen by the passing snorkeling boat that came to their rescue. The so called 'Captain' should be prosecuted for risking the lives of the divers. Even If he had engine problems - he should have stayed on station on an anchor line. This dive company should be 'named and shamed', before the morons do it again and loose somebody.

[paddyjenkins]

Dont leave your lives in the hands of a local if you can avoid it. First, these people arent exactly bright. Second, foreigners have no rights in thailand and locals for some reason see themselves as superior, with foreigners lives having no value. If you really have to go diving then use a foreign run business and make sure the boat is piloted by a foreigner, that way there is a chance of intelligent and professional and decent bahaviour. There is also the issue of equipment safety and maintenance. Sorry, thais just cant be trusted for these kinds of things, especially the men.

[skorchio]

Name and Shame is necessary here I think. Looking at the photo seems to me it is in Phang Nga Bay area, so boat departed from Phuket, Phi Phi or Krabi. As another commentator pointed out, there is hardly a shark alive in those waters. Shark Point, a previous favourite divesite of mine, has been renamed to Point.

Doesnt mention if the coxswain had intended to return for them if he sorted out his engine problem. Just says he left cos of it ..... what a w4nker!!!

[jcb2001]

Can you disclose the tour company name so no one ever uses their services again?

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Are you kidding me? This is Thailand at its best. These so called boat captains will just move a few spaces down the beach and continue to offer boat services to any unsuspecting guest. There is no regulations regarding boat captain's responsibility.

Supposedly, these tourist were diving with instructors who live and work here in Thailand. They should have known better. IMHO, they are the ones at fault for this terrible experience.

[SOTIRIOS]

....does that mean he made off with their belongings too....

...cliffs or not...how do you get back....or were they not supposed to....

[tromboneman]

Unfortunately these things happen, there have been movies made about it, but it sounds like in this case the blame is easy.

Where did this happen?

I agree. More information, please. I'll avoid it in the future.

[NongKhaiKid]

What makes you think that it only happens in Thailand. I was on a dive in Tahiti once and although we tried to convince the dive master, a Frenchman, that we were 2 short on our trip back he ignored us until we got to the dock and the owner started to collect equipment. Guess what, they were 2 short. Fortunately they went back and found the pair floating nervously in the water over the reef. S**t happens everywhere, not only in Thailand, it's just that this website must be Thai related so you don't hear about the daily " potential disasters" all over the world. Try diving in the red sea sometime, sharks are predicable, but gators and crocks aren't.

Yes, but at least in your case the boat realised people were missing and went back. Not great but at least something. In this case no one back and 6 were left stranded, including 2 instructors. Not by accident either. That's a lot of indifference to human lives.

I think we can be sure this will get a lot of coverage in the many diving and boating publications and may make potential customers more careful but it's unlikely to worry any of the relevant authorities or TAT.

[Cuban]

Unsurprising I've written before that Thai professionalism when applied to ANY aspect involving the management and operation of water borne vessels will have a disaster waiting to happen avoided only by luck.

Yet it's considered Thai bashing to spot this trend.

[Bpuumike]

You normally have a 'downline' which would generally be the anchor line.

Not explained how they got back to shore?

[8OA8]

Could have been the Thai version of the Bermuda Triangle

[yougivemebaby]

Just another day in paradise.

[Wimbledon]

I can understand accidentally leaving one or two behind.

But to 'deliberately' leave six divers behind is just plain unacceptable.

There is no excuse.

The captain should face criminal charges for this.

. If it was my family BC would have been upside down. In,aa barrel about a week. Later paid by. Anonymous donation ..... Giving. Him a taste of what he created. Oh only joking. mmmmnnn

[Alwyn]

You are not dealing with "the sharpest knives in the draw", intelligence, education all leave alot to be desired in many countries. People just blindly expect things to be the same wherever they go, they are not, and they dont stop to think about where they are and who they are actually dealing with.If they know what they are doing, if they are trained, if they have experience? Or is it just some local driven purely by money and has no clue as to the implications of his actions and unknowingly put lives in danger.

wow.. congratulations are in order! You've made what has to be the biggest "generalization" ever!! You just made a generalzitation about the whole World - well done!! "people just blindly expect things to be the same (except you of course, you're far too smart) wherever they go" etc.. and you know this how? You've questioned "the people"? because I don't remember you asking me about it.. If you read the full article you will see the couple researched reviews about the dive company for booking, what else should they have done, o wise one?

Agree with you Alwyn. No on expects every country to be the same and everybody knows that you have to try and be wary of differences and customs. But what's that got to do with this guys behavior? We are not talking about complaining about your food in a restaurant, he abandoned the divers in the sea for goodness sake. As Alwyn said, they researched the dive company. Unless you have a crystal ball this is all you can do.

Sharpest knives in the draw or not this "captain" will know what he did was wrong, so don't point the finger at the 6 divers and suggest they were naive. The captain should be up for criminal charges, absolutely no doubt and to be honest, if it were me and I ever saw him again I would have to have to seriously restrain myself from breaking his bloody jaw.

So, get real. No excuses, it was wrong, I guess you have been living here too long which is why your post is so skewed the wrong way.

No doubt about it Gazza, the captain was criminially negligent by anybody's standards. If he got a good pasting from any one of those divers, it's the very least he should either expect or deserve. So much for the Captain being the last one to abandon ship...

[shrimpythailand]

"nearby cliffs which were too steep to climb."

So they were hardly "in the middle of the ocean" then!

What stupid comments!

Have you ever tried to climb even a modestly rocky area with a full set of diving gear on? I don't think so, otherwise you wouldn't have made this stupid comment. Steep cliffs and sea swell don't go together too well I can tell you from past experience.

If you read the story, they say that they were abandoned in about a five foot swell and as an ex diver I can tell you that it can be extremely difficult to spot divers in the water in those kind of conditions from small boats. You don't have to be "in the middle of the ocean" to have some turd ruin your life. One of the biggest problems in this kind of scenario, is that divers can get seperated by currents and then you've really got a problem and add to this that the sun was setting; it all adds up to a very nasty scenario where people could easily have lost their lives. It was extremely lucky that one of the divers had some form of inflatable device (it didn't say what in the article) that was most fortunately seen by the passing snorkeling boat that came to their rescue. The so called 'Captain' should be prosecuted for risking the lives of the divers. Even If he had engine problems - he should have stayed on station on an anchor line. This dive company should be 'named and shamed', before the morons do it again and loose somebody.

good point - I am not a diver but leaving 6 people in the water - even near cliffs but in 5 ft swells and claiming "engine trouble"? yes the company needs to be named as it looks like nobody (captain or company) will be prosecuted here... tourists AND 2 thai dive company employees? good gawd...not to mention all the other boat accidents and deaths like the Indian newlywed in the parasail death - when the captain didn't shut the motor off and the lines were pulled in by the engine and killed the woman... and Thailand wants millions of beach going tourists and divers? I guess nobody remembered to explicitly tell the captain to wait here for us? like the scene in the Monty Python Holy Grail when the guy is talking to the 2 guards and they can't get the instructions right 5 5 5 whoa... you have to flip a coin here every time you "intrust" your life to someone...

[gamini]

What makes you think that it only happens in Thailand. I was on a dive in Tahiti once and although we tried to convince the dive master, a Frenchman, that we were 2 short on our trip back he ignored us until we got to the dock and the owner started to collect equipment. Guess what, they were 2 short. Fortunately they went back and found the pair floating nervously in the water over the reef. S**t happens everywhere, not only in Thailand, it's just that this website must be Thai related so you don't hear about the daily " potential disasters" all over the world. Try diving in the red sea sometime, sharks are predicable, but gators and crocks aren't.

Same thing happened in Australia a few years back. It was a big scandal and they charged the Captain in court. I was on a trip on the Great \Barrier Reef and the Captain and crew were far more interested in chatting up the females on board than looking after thier customers and they nearly forgot to pick up a couple of divers. Such events happen everywhere but considering the number of divers going out on boat trips hereThailand has a pretty good record

[transam]

Don't be so hard on the "captain" *snort* he had engine trouble. What else could he do but start it up and putter home?

Singha-time!

Naaaaaaaaaaaaah, nothing interferes with lunch hour. ...............